another to the jackals out there. he had the clear head to do it before when picking hillary clintoner to state and it made all of the difference. i hope he does it again. and that's "hardball." thanks for being with us. happy thanksgiving. the ed show with ed schultz starts now. good morning, everyone. happy thanksgiving. i'm alex witt. with latest from israel to the big parade in manhattan a packed morning for you. the balloons are filled, ready to go, talking about the 86th annual macy's thanksgiving day parade. live for you along the parade route. the president is behind her, now u.n. ambassador susan rice defendinging her record to critics taking her to task on benghazi. will it be enough? celebrations in gaza. so far, the day-old cease-fire is holding but the real work begins. and that fragile cease-fire between israel and hamas militants brokered by the u.s. government and egyptian president morsi. it is less than 24 hours old.

there is deep mistrust. civilians on both sides hoping the agreement will bring a permanent end to the deadly air strikes and rocket fire. in gaza with the i have latest, eamon, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. for the first time in nine days the people of gaza were able to go about their business as usual in a place that usually is not very normal. so, for the first time they were able to wake up today after cease-fire declared last evening and shops and stores reopened people going back to their homes. throughout this conflict 9,000 or so palestinians were displaced from their homes. they took up shelters in u.n. schools. today for the first time able to go back, survey damage in some of the areas and try to get their lives back to normal. in gaza city, tens of thousands of supporters of hamas and other palestinian factions that have been fighting over the past nine days came out to the streets in what is described as a victory rally. the leaders of hamas came out thanked the palestinian people

for the steadfast support. they celebrated what they're describing as a victory for resistance over israel and say they're ready to do it again, if they need to defend their territory and people. importantly, the question on everyone's mind, how long will this cease-fire last? can it last? one of the fundamental issues that keeps coming up is whether or not there is going to be a comprehensive solution to the problems facing israel and the palestinian people. the people in gaza want to see an end to the siege. the people in southern israel want to see a calm and a cessation of rocket fire. these are some of the issues that negotiators who happen to negotiate the deal over the past 24 hours will now start to address for a long-term solution. if not, thousands of soldiers are still amassed on the israeli border and there's always the possibility and fear that war is just around the corner. back to you, alex. >> thank you very much. for more on the u.s. role in brokering that cease-fire deal, right to the white house and nbc's kristin welker with a happy thanksgiving and good

morning to you. let's get to what you're hearing from the white house following this deal. >> reporter: well, happy thanksgiving to you. good morning. white house officials say they're encouraged by the cease-fire and it's clear will a good thing but also viewing it quite cautiously because it is so fragile. you heard ayman talk about the reasons why it's fragile. the white house incredibly cautious right now as they sort of monitor the situation in the middle east. president obama spent part of yesterday reaching out to leaders in the region, including president mohamed morsi. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, thanked morsi for his efforts to help broker the cease-fire. speaking to the israeli prime minister, president obama reaffirmed the united states and said it would use the moment to help israel strengthen security needs especially dealing with the issue of arms and weapons being smuggled into gaza. president obama in talking to president morsi, again, thanked

him for his role and talked about the need to try to create and achieve a broader security situation in the region. president obama certainly spent a fair amount of his day yesterday dealing with this. the white house saying that secretary of state hillary clinton did play a pivotal role. one of the key things that they are pointing to that has come out of all of the talks and negotiations, alex, there's a question mark surrounding the egyptian president mohamed morsi, and that question mark has gone away. fe feel president obama's relationship has gotten stronger. he has been talking to him throughout this entire process over the past several days and they feel as though he really was a strong force in terms of brokering this cease-fire. as was, of course, secretary of state hillary clinton. >> absolutely, from the both of them did a lot of work on that. what's the first family up to today on thanksgiving? >> reporter: it is a quiet thanksgiving here at the white house, alex. they will be celebrating with

their family and if past years are an indication, i'm sure that's going to mean turkey, ham, lots of desserts, a couple different types of pies. yesterday president obama, of course, pardoned the turkey, it's a big annual tradition here at the white house. the turkeys yesterday cobbler and gobbler. cobbler officially pardoned gobbler his alternate in case cobbler can't perform the duties of a pardoned turkey. they are heading to mt. vernon or probably already there and that's where they're going to sort of spend the rest of their days, not too shabby for a pardoned turkey. it was a moment, of course, of levity at the white house. president obama and the first daughters engaging in that annual tradition which, by the way, started under jfk in 1963. >> it's a good one. and we're very glad those two turkeys were pardoned. lawmakers are taking today to give thanks and spend time

with their families but next week they'll be back in washington with plenty to do trying to negotiate a solution to stave off the fiscal cliff. everyone was getting along last friday when all of the leaders met at the white house but now that it's time to deal things are getting a bit tougher. let's bring in david and steve. happy thanksgiving, guys. thanks for getting up early with us. >> good morning. >> first one to you, david, the staffers have told politico that these talks are off to a rough start and issue is, it's the same, the revenue, how to get it. what congressman tom cole said on "jansing and company" yesterday. >> important as to how you get that revenue. i was disappointed to see leader pelosi say it had to be higher rates or nothing. i don't think that's the way you begin a negotiation. >> what about the possibility of keeping the same rates but eliminating deductions for the wealthy in. >> i think that's a good potential suggestion. >> so you hear that, republicans have opened the door to revenue but not by raising taxes.

is that going to be enough? might that be the compromised point? >> if you listen to the white house and top democrats it might not be, because they're saying, i think treasury secretary geithner said the other day that's not enough money. president obama starting negotiations at $1.6 trillion in revenues, that's twice as much as the president seemed to agree to two summers ago before the fiscal cliff debt negotiations collapsed with speaker boehner. so i think that's the dividing line right there, whether it's going to be eliminating deducts or higher rates. there's pressure from left on the president to hold the line. he won the election, he told labor leaders last week, prior to meetings on friday, with capitol hill leaders he was going to hold the line. the white house's taking a tough tact here. >> congressman ellison suggests that is not enough on politics nation last night. let's take a listen.

>> all of those guys who signed pledges for grover norquist, they're still around. i think the tea party was somewhat of a fleeting moment. here one day, gone the next. but those entrenched interests that always want to push more and more of the cost of running society on the people who can least afford it, they haven't gone anywhere. i think it's a good time to start thinking about some protests and some folks calling for a fair deal for the american people. >> steve, do you think this is something that's going to inspire people to make their voices heard like the tea party, there on the other side? i don't know about here today, gone the next? do you think they're really gone or they're here? >> they're absolutely here. they're a major force. if the tea party and fiscal conservatives weren't hammering at the republican leadership boehner would have cut a deal on tax rate.

no, these are the opening positions. these are the opening bargaining offers from the two sides. and i think it's still very likely they're going to end up compromising on the tax rate. the president opened the door. his opening position he wanted the top rate to go to 39.6%. he's signaling and the white house signaled they can take 37%, but with additional reductions in deductions so overall tax payment by wealthy americans would continue to go up. but these are just opening positions. the tea party's going to be a force. they're not going to be the ultimate decider the big fear to both of you, if there's no deal the markets are going to tank. listen to ben bernanke's assessment. >> indeed by the reckoning of the congressional budget office the cbo and outside observers, fiscal shock of that size would sent the economy toppling back into recession. >> and it wouldn't keep saying the deal's going to get done. if not, there are real repercussions, steve.

>> absolutely. but, alex, what we're looking at now, as we head into next week, the general framework for the talk for the next four weeks is kind of a two-track system. one is let's do some agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff and that may be another short-term agreement to extend the rates, extend the spending as is, or maybe a slight modification and we'll have a negotiation next year on part two the grand bargain to overhaul the tax code and spending. i think both sides go into this with the general agreement, the leaders, that is, that they're going to have a short-term solution. i think the stock market's going to take a bit of a hit in the three or four weeks until we get to that end game but i think they're moving toward that. >> david, you agree with that? we're going to get something whether permanent or a downpayment. >> i think so. neither side wants a repeat of two summers ago when the country's credit rating took a hit for the first time ever. you know and i think as we saw friday they came out with a bit

of a unified voice for the first time. >> thank you. whether you're about to get on the road or already settled in for the holiday, for the most part there's a lot to be thankful. in the weather department this year, most of country is sunny, dry, mild which is making it easier to get around. no major delays at airports to speak of. compared to yesterday when parts of the midwest shrouded with heavy fog. that caused major flight delays and tie-ups on roadways. busy travel hub of chicago hit especially hard but today conditions will be much improved. expecting clear but colder weather on black friday throughout most of country. meteorologist bill karins will detail that in the full holiday weather coming up in 20 minuted. for many americans, holiday shopping's in the forecast today. the bird is still in the oven but the black friday frenzy is on. plus -- one soldier makes it home from afghanistan just in time for a huge surprise. you're going to want to see

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15,000 hostess works are out of a job on thanksgiving, a bankruptcy court judge has given the make of twinkies, wonder bread the okay to wind down business and sell off assets. 3200 employees will help find buyers, which includes drake cakes and dolly madison ice cream. hostess failed to reach a deal tuesday. walmart is asking federal officials to stop union bank protests and walk-outs but any decision's not likely to come until tomorrow at the earliest. workers protesting for better pay and benefits and against opening up on thanksgiving tonight early for shopping.

no working on wall street today. marks closed for thanksgiving. santa helped ring the closing bell to mark the 65th anniversary of the marines toys for tots program. ready, set, shop. the biggest shopping weekend of the year's about to kick off. estimated 147 million of us will take advantage of black friday weekend sales, 4% more than last year. let's bring in analyst author of the new book "black market billions." happy thanksgiving. glad you're here and not shopping. what is this thanksgiving creep? talk about this? >> right. a lot of the stores like walmart and target you were talking about, cole's even, starting to open doors earlier. actually i shouldn't say open doors. walmart, for example, some super stores are open 24 hours today. >> true. >> they're starting black market promotions earlier at 8:00, 10:00, some even 9:00 in the evening. the reason why they're doing this is because they're trying

to take market share away from competitors. each year walmart, target, toys "r" us have a price war that goes on. having them open up doors earlier means that customers are going in earlier. >> yeah. >> but workers aren't happy about it. look at petitions signed. hundreds of thousands, come on. >> right. yes. there are petitions happening. but the way i spoke to walmart executive and they were tell me almost 1 million people are working black friday in their stores. so a lot of the people sign up for these hours, too. and they get extra pay. yes, there are protests, some disgruntled people, you knowing protesting about this. but to put it in perspective, there are people, a million people say they wanted to go out and work on black friday. >> put in perspective how important black friday is to retailers. >> ho 40% of retailers -- let me rephrase. retailers get most of the holiday sales that happen during black friday, 40% of sales

happen for the total annual sales. if that puts it in perspective. it's pretty important. black friday is happening early. this is one of the earliest times thanksgiving is happening. the holiday season is 33 days. so these retailers want to open up earlier to try to get customers in. >> okay. we need strategy tips. how do you get through it successfully? >> right. you obviously don't want to be out in the crowds. people are moving towards mobile. so the -- if you have a smartphone download apps, red laser and decide. they can tell you what different prices are going to be on product. that's the smartest way to do it. you get price alert, tell you when prices are coming down or not coming down, map it out for you, tell you where the best prices are in your area. >> but in terms of best prices if you don't grab it this weekend people say if we get close to holidays it will come down. is there truth to that or is this the weekend? >> there is truth to that.

retailers have to get rid of inventory. they stock up inventory for black friday. around mid-december you start seeing prices come down in everything from appliances, electronics, jewelry, even clothing. >> what about monday, cybermonday? is this the kind of thing that there really is impact felt at the brick and mortar stores? >> people make fun of cybermonday. they think it's a made-up term. it's true. people go on and start going while at work or while -- >> while at work. >> trying to see if prices are coming down. what's happening now people are moving online to go shopping. so all of the retailers are trying to take advantage of that. bottom line is, people aren't going into the stores as much as they used to because we have ipads, smartphones, people take laptops everywhere. so most of the shopping is happening there. you'll see similar deals in the stores, even tonight, for example, online, moving forward. >> maybe you can spend today with your family and wait to shop. >> i recommend that.

especially if you like your family. >> or work with your friends. thank you. a mother in washington state has two reasons to celebrate this morning after two big thanksgiving surprises. the first, her newborn son. amanda earhart arrived alone tuesday to give birth on her own because her husband's serving in afghanistan. what she did not know, a secret mission happening steps away and that's when the second surprise comes in here. amanda's husband, matt, spent the month getting permission to travel home for the delivery but kept it a secret and he showed up just in time for the son's birth. >> i tried to keep it a surprise because got her hopes up a couple of types and it didn't happen. >> just perfect. it was just really nice he didn't have to miss out on his healthy son being born. that was just, you know, that just really means a lot. >> priceless. matt says he doesn't know how long he's going to stay home but plans on enjoying thanksgiving with the family. gunner is doing really well. we're t-minus 90 minutes to

start of the big parade. new friends and old favorites. live on the parade route. we want to know what you're thankful for this thanksgiving. [ man ] ring ring... progresso this reduced sodium soup says it may help lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just have to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. hurry in this friday for great deals. like the droid razr by motorola in cranberry, free. or a white 7-inch samsung galaxy tab 2, just $99.99. this friday, get the best deals on the best devices on the best network. exclusively at verizon.

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a day to shop at stores owned by our friends and neighbors. and do our part for the businesses that do so much for us. on november 24th, let's get out and shop small. there are two time-honored television traditions this holiday, nfl football and macy's thanksgiving day parade both you can see on your local nbc station. the weather channel's stephanie abrams live in manhattan with the parade preview where she's been all morning. look at you surrounded by the festive stuff. good morning, steph. >> good morning, alex. surrounded by clowns here. and this is not your first go, right? how many years? >> six years. >> nine. >> why do you do it every year? >> why not? it's so much fun. >> you're wearing red cross buttons. >> yes. >> in honor of those affected by superstorm sandy. >> correct. >> the parade brings back hope? >> i hope so. it's a day for celebration,

family and to be thankful for what we have. >> what are you thankful for? >> my family, great country i live in, being a clown in a parade. >> did you goat pick all of the makeup? do you like wearing the makeup? >> i love wearing the makeup. it's the only time i wear makeup all year long. >> sure about that? >> pretty sure about that. >> the good news is we're are going to have beautiful weather for the parade. temperatures in the 50s. we have sun shining. 16 giant character balloons, 28 float, 900 more of the things behind me which would be clowns, 11 marching bands, 1600 cheerleaders and dancers and 50 million spectators on tv and 3 million here on the streets of new york. >> steph, you're being modest because aren't you and your cohort in crime there al roker from "wake up with al" on a parade float yourself? >> no. i'm not going to be on a parade float. al, are you kicking off the

parade? right? are you on a float? >> no. >> no, he's not on a float, just kicking off the parade. >> i thought you were going to be -- i'm starting the cause right now. i'm getting it out there. >> for next year. >> i wish you would. it would be fun. steph, we'll see you again. thank you for the great weather. loving it across the country. nice going. >> you're welcome. >> happy thanksgiving to my good friend. thanks. does your kitchen look a little overwhelming now? if so, no need to worry. butter ball's ready to help the turkey team standing by to answerer questions at 800-butter-ball. experience is on their side. good people at butterball fielding 100,000 cooking questions each year for last three decades. coming up, full turkey day weather forecast to get you to dinner on time and trouble spots to avoid. also on the ground in the middle east where a fragile cease-fire is holding. what's next as egypt takes the lead. [ male announcer ] introducing the new dell xps 12.

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welcome back, everyone. i'm alex witt. some of the stories making headline on thanksgiving day. a new study in the new england journal of medicine claims routine use of mammograms may have led to 1.3 million women being incorrectly diagnosed or overdiagnosed with breast cancer in the past 30 years. the latest study cast skepticism on the effectiveness of the test. one-third of women diagnosed with breast cancer would not have developed the full-blown disease if left untreated. two weeks after winning his tenth term in congress, jesse jackson jr. resigned. jackson cited his ongoing treatment for bipolar disorder and admitted to, quote, my share of mistakes. jackson's resignation amid a committee vegs into dealings with impressined former governor blah voi given. the violence in syria continues. rebel leaders say 40 people killed in an air strike on a key

hospital in the city of aleppo. this is not the first time the hospital's been hit. earlier an artillery shell mitt the maternity ward. warning sirens sound in southern israel but to this point the cease-fire between the israeli government and hamas militants brokered by the united states held firm. martin fletchers live in tel aviv. good day. any blairing of sirens or quiet of late? >> reporter: good morning. it's been very quiet. there were two sirens, alarm that went off earlier this morning, turned out they were believed to be false alarms. so far, so good. the cease-fire went into effect at 9:00 local time last night, which is about 17 hours ago, and it's pretty quiet. of course a cause for celebration for the palestinians who are celebrating in great style last night when the cease-fire announced shooting guns into the air, going into the streets, thousands declaring victory over israel. a different scene here in

israel. there was empty streets, quiet, a sense here there's nothing much to celebrate. the israeli defense minister said this is a cease-fire that he believes will be recognized and enforced but also said, judging by experience, it may not last very long. that's what we have here in israel. skepticism about the cease-fire. great hope it will last. another development this morning, the israelis on the west bank arrested about 55 members of the hamas and other islamic militant organizations in gaza, saying that they represented the terrorist threat and that follows the bus bomb yesterday here in tel aviv. the first bus bomb, first bomb attack in tel aviv in six years. that's a reminder that although israel now has a cease-fire in gaza and everyone's working on maintaining the cease-fire and enforcing it, israel has plenty of other problems, too, it needs to face up with. >> martin fletcher, thank you. back here at home, millions

of people hitting the roads, the runways and malls over the next 72 hours. what can we expect from mother nature? meteorologist bill karins has the turkey day forecast. happy thanksgiving. >> mostly good news especially compared to yesterday. talk to anyone traveling through st. louis, chicago, milwaukee, detroit, a nightmare. the fog was blanketed into that region. but over 500 flights canceled or delayed over o'hare airport. a beautiful shot. not beautiful to be in but on top of what we used to call the sears tower in chicago. looking down at the city of chicago, the fog was only down around the ground. the tallest buildings were able to peek through. amazing sight. that's why. imagine being a pilot and figure out where the runway is and land in that. that's why we had all of the issues yesterday. today, better out there. fog out in the detroit area. but that's about it. right now visibility in detroit down to zero.

one travel trouble spot airport in detroit. highways and roads from detroit to toledo. better in chicago, indianapolis not bad. now that other story is temperatures. throughout thanksgiving into black friday shopping the midwest is the area, the map that shows 24-hour temperature change. the very warm right now in kansas city but the cold air is on its way. out towards billings and montana the cold air's plunging down from canada. a warm day and then a cold day in the midwest. be prepared. and it is frigid in canada. edmonton at 5. that's the cold air heading down for areas like minneapolis tomorrow. so the forecast for thanksgiving day, couldn't ask for anything better from the southeast right up the eastern seaboard. great for the macy's parade in new york city. late day showerser, chicago, st. louis, kansas city, will not wash out your day. west coast one dry day. tomorrow, shopping, rainy and cloudy in the northwest. i mentioned temperatures, you

know how crazy this is. people in line starting at midnight tonight go into the stores. temperatures will be in the 20s, windchill down towards zero in the northern plains. but i'm sure they'll line up. that will not scare them away. >> i know. people on a mission. >> have you done it before ever? >> i haven't. i want to be home with my family. so i haven't. but i watch those who do. get on you. all right. thank you very much. and bill's giving us the green light. millions of americans heading home for thanksgiving but the turkey trot has gotten off on the wrong foot for some travelers. look at the nightmare on the west coast. this was the scene in los angeles last night. that's interstate 405 one of the nation's busiest freeways but looks like a parking lot. look at that. like a christmas lit-up parade with red and white lights. for more on the holiday travel situation, joined by courtney scott. welcome to you. happy thanksgiving. glad you're here. crazy travel in l.a. and other places. typical for thanksgiving? >> you know, it is. the holidaysing there's a higher

degree of travel. about 43 million people taking to roads and in the air this thanksgiving. but the good news is that the worst is over for outgoing travel. yesterday we saw a nightmare on the roads. and certain airports, tuesday as well. but today if you're traveling you're going to see you might have locked in a good deal for a flight and less lines through security and easy travel day. >> if you can do it today. otherwise, overall, how expensive is air fare this year? >> up 9% year over year. expect $386 for thanksgiving travel. looking ahead to christmas $417 for the december holidays. that's up 17.5%. so we are seeing this steady increase in ticket price. and you know the higher demand around the holidays with lower supply, fewer seats in the air, fewer routes perfect storm foreign crease in ticket. >> you need advice. give us advice how to get through the travel season and do it well? >> if you canning flexible with

days you're traveling. come back monday or tuesday or the thanksgiving holiday and be flexible with the airports traveling in and out of. look at laguardia, jfk, newark. you can lock in good deals and find savings there. also think about cybermonday and black friday, not only for electronics and clothing but travel. travelocity.com is doing a promo code for 10% off, reduced hotel and vacation packages use turkey ten for the discount. >> do it, that will give it to you at hotels. what about air fare? deals remaining to be had over the holidays or were those scooped up a long time ago? >> there are. people traditionally booked prior to the holiday and booking further out in advance. there are some deals to be found. i recommend looking on social media apps and on twitter for last-minute deals. a great place to see real-time deals pop up. >> traveling by car? is that up as well? gas prices i know are slightly down right now.

but still high. >> you know they are. but people are taking to roads this thanksgiving. out of the 43 million people, about 90% of that is street travel. >> that's the pictures that we saw. >> exactly. >> did you see ones from outside phoenix airport, too? i'm told people were dropping cars and leaving them there because they -- we have to make our flight. what do you do? >> incredible. i can't stress it enough, if you can leave on off-peak day you'll save yourself all of the stress. >> thank you for the advice. courtney scott, thank you. walmart opens its doors if a few hours for pre-black friday deal but was employees planning to strike on the busiest shopping day of the year. one worker ready to trade her 8.90 for the picket line. tter to be the early bird...or the earliest bird? on black friday, it doesn't matter, as long as we end up here at 5 a.m., or at homedepot.com, starting thursday.

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first time at the united nations yesterday. she defended what she said on the sunday talk shows about the attack on the consulate in benghazi. >> when discussing the attacks against our facilities in benghazi, i relied solely and squarely on the information provided to me by the intelligence community. i made clear that the information was preliminary and that our investigations would give us the definitive answers. >> i want to bring in margie omaro and joe watkins, republican strategist. good morning to both of you. happy thanksgiving. >> good morning. >> this is time of peace and tranquility among the family. let's ask you this. with her having come out now, she's saying what in her own defense what she was given, her talking points, what she was told to say, intelligence given at the time. does this put any of this to rest, joe? >> i think that this is a good

start for ambassador rice. she's somebody that has an impeccable background, phi beta kappa rhodes scholar, somebody well regarded in the international community and the united states. she could be very well our next nominee for secretary of state. i think that it's okay to explain what happened. i think it's a good thing to explain that you've got information that led you to say what you said. and i think her real battle right now lies with convincing senator mccain. she's got to reach out to senator mccain, some of the others who have to confirm her in her bid to be the next secretary of state. i think she can do that. but she's got to continue to reach out to them. >> she did make a statement about that. in addition to senator mccain, senator lindsey graham as well they have both been outspoken critic of what happened. not only is there a coverup but they would oppose susan rice's nomination to secretary of state. listen to what she said directly

to john mccain. >> i have great respect for senator mccain and his service to our country. i always have. and i always will. i do think that some of the statements he's made about me have been unfounded but i look forward to having the opportunity at the appropriate time to discuss all of this with him. >> that's a measured and appropriate way to respond, very respectful. but let's put yourself in john mccain's shoes. do you call for a meeting with susan rice or something public, congressional hearings? how do you see this playing out? >> i think that joe should write john mccain's talking points because he sounds more measured and moderate in response. what susan rice did was defend herself, reiterate what we've been saying throughout the process, which is she was working off talking points, the documents back that up. and she also reached out an olive bran tomp senator mccain, something he has not done and it's that language from john mccain. this is the same senator who said that sarah palin was

qualified saying susan rice is unqualified. and he's using language that voters have just had it, they have had it up to here, sick of this kind of partisan back fighting and et rherhetoric and fighting. what she did was completely appropriate. it remains to be seen what john mccain does. i note, joe, i'm curious what your thoughts are. john mccain decided not to go to a classified briefing on benghazi to hold a press conference to complain about benghazi. what does that told tell you about his attitude reaching out across the aisle being open and tolerant. >> nobody wants to see partisan pickering, the time for that is past. i think senator mccain's biggest concern was the loss of life, the fact we lost our ambassador. susan rice worked with closely and had great respect for. she worked closely with that ambassador, with some -- so saddened to know he lost his life and three of his colleagues did as well.

senator mccain cares about the loss of life and knowing the facts as best he might. and he's someone who deeply cares about the u.s. and our relationship with the countries and certainly about what happened in benghazi. so i think she has to continue to reach out to him, to him, senator lindsey graham, i think talk to them behind closed doors and explain. i said yesterday, on msnbc, there are lots of smart people. susan rice is one of them. she's a bright woman. very qualified. very competent person but sometimes smart people make mistakes and it's okay to say that, too. >> the president has forcefully defended susan rice. but the issue doesn't seem to be going away. listen to this, congressman clyburn suggesting it was racial? let's take a listen. >> these are code words. we heard them during the campaign. during this recent campaign, we heard senator sununu calling our

president lazy, incompetent, these kinds of terms that those of us especially those of us born and raised in south, we have been hearing these words and phrases all of our lives and we get insulted by them. >> margie, weigh in on this. what's your take? >> i can't speak to anybody's intent behind words like that. it is something elected officials need to be mindful of to make sure the tone doesn't come across from in a way disrespectful. to say she's incompetent is not something you imagine republicans saying about if susan rice was older or an older man. it would harder to imagine that charge. you don't see democrats say -- you didn't see democrats saying condi rice. it's something that i think we need to keep in mind, how our language comes across. for republicans who have problems seeming open and toll ran and embracing voters across

the board, they should be a little bit more considerate. >> your thought on this one, too? representative clyburn suggesting it's racial, joe? >> this is of course is sensitive to me. i'm an african-american man. i know racism still exists in the country. i have enormous respect for congressman clyburn, he's a real giant, somebody i know and admire greatly. i'm not sure this particular instance this disagreement between senator mccain and senator graham and ambassador rice is race based. there was another rice, secretary of state, condi rice, came under criticism from members of congress for one thing or the other. and it was based bpurely on disagreement of the issue. i think senator mccain and graham have concerns and certainly take issue with ambassador rice. i think it would do her well to continue to talk about what happened and talk directly to them as well to make herself

available to them and to explain what happened to them in a way they'll fine satisfactory. that's a way to make this thing go away. >> can i ask you guys real quick, a yes or no answer, will she be nominated for secretary of state? margie, you first? >> you know, certainly look like she might. >> okay. joe? >> yeah, i think she has a good chance to be nominated. a lot depends how she handles this little dust-up here. but i think she has a great chance to be nominated. >> okay. you guys have a great thanksgiving holiday. thank you. >> you, too. >> join david gregory for a special "meet the press," the president's second term and challenge his faces at home and abroad. if it's sunday, it's "meet the press." check local listings. macy's thanksgiving day parade starts in an hour. 50 million of us watching at home. no pressure. the woman in charge of it all. [ emily jo ] derrell comes into starbucks

with his wife, danielle, almost every weekend. derrell hasn't been able to visit his mom back east in a long time. [ shirley ] things are sometimes a little tight around the house. i wasn't able to go to the wedding. [ emily jo ] since derrell couldn't get home, we decided to bring home to him and then just gave him a little bit of help finding his way.

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nothing brings in the holidays like thanksgiving's day parade in new york city. new friends are floating down that parade route. here with me to talk about it is the macy's thanksgiving day parade executive producer, amy, who is one busy lady. >> i am. and i've got to get out here. we've got a parade to do. >> we'll do this quickly. we have new balloons that will float down the fifth avenue parade. >> we've got three brand-new balloons that will appear in the parade this year. a brand-new hello kitty plane who will be in her own biplane so she'll fly down the parade alone. and papa smurf. and elf on the shelf. that's never been in the parade at all. the other two have had two different balloons, but this is the first for elf on the shelf. >> how do these balloons get picked? of all the themes you can choose from, how do you choose them? >> there are people who write to me all the time. >> really? >> an energetic group of people

out there who are die-hard macy's fans. and they're good at telling me what they'd like to see. but instinctively we know what should be up there. you have to be immediately recognizable children's character or american icon that has ingratiated themselves into the americana. the doe boy, garfield had been in the parade forever. mickey mouse of course. >> there's a lot of history here, though. i'm curious what the oldest balloon is in the parade? >> we recreate balloons from time to time. we started a program where we looked at the macy's parade history of balloons that flew in the '40s and '50s and recreated them. this year we're flying rex the happy dragon. it flew from 1960 to 1991. we retired him. this year wee rebuilt that balloon and we're flying him again. >> whether or not withstanding

the rest of it, what is the most difficult thing for you to control as you get this show on the road? >> my energy. >> you probably have to drink a lot of coffee. >> we stay up for a really long time, so coffee is our friend. there's nothing you can control. you can plan all you want. the parade is made up of 10,000 volunteers. it's their energy that keeps this perception going. we've got a brand-new parade route this year. we're going to march down sixth avenue. it's wider, direct, right down to macy's a lot more public space. we're used to having 3.5 million people in new york see it. it's going to be a magnificent day. >> i always feel for the folks that are performing in those little skirts and the drum majors and the like. do they ever complain, or is it just such an honor? >> they really don't complain. they know up front it's going to be cold. most of the time if they look underdressed, they've got a lot of layers underneath. what's interesting, we have the band practice at 3:00 in the

morning. not only is it cold but it's dark. and these bands come from all over the country. so many of them have never even been in new york city before. and then they find themselves at macy's herald square looking up, cameras all around them and they're practicing. >> i know you've got to get going, but i have to ask, i always feel bad because all the folks working on this parade, do you get to celebrate thanksgiving. >> we've got a beautiful tradition. everybody that works on the parade, we're on the street for about 48 hours. the parade ends on television at noon. but everything has got to go back. so we're working until about 6:00 at night. the best thing that we do is the day after the macy's thanksgiving day parade. the small team gets together, the team gets together, invite their family and friends and go to the macy's day parade studio. on friday, 24 hours later, we have our own thanksgiving and we get to watch the parade together and eat. >> in the meantime, get to work today. >> i've got to go. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. happy thanksgiving.

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